On her Tuesday show on MSNBC, Chris Jansing portrayed the Georgia Senate race between Republican Herschel Walker and Democrat Raphael Warnock as a contest between two different versions of Christianity. Naturally, Walker was said to represent the bad “right-wing” version, while Warnock represents the good “Southern tradition of faith-based civil rights” version.
Jansing did not have any Republicans on for the segment, but she did have Democratic strategist Basil Smikle, whom she asked, “Do scandals matter?”
Presumably, she means Republican scandals because MSNBC has no time for Democrat scandals.
Before she would let Smikle answer, she continued, “There's an interesting subtext, I think, to this race because the New York Times reported about a private event for Walker just after this whole controversy started and an Evangelical pastor made comparisons, apparently, to God's protection of King David in the Bible saying Walker would be protected in a similar way. And the Times called the Georgia Senate race ‘an explicit matchup of two increasingly divergent versions of American Christianity.’”
Jansing then set about summarizing these two versions of Christianity, “Walker, conservative Christianity and right-wing politics, while Raph Warnock, who of course is a pastor, represents the Southern tradition of faith-based civil rights. I guess my question is in a race as tight as this one where every single vote matters, can faith be an important component to who wins or who loses?”
Smikle replied by affirming Jansing’s partisan descriptions of the two beliefs, “Well, faith is always an important component because as many theologians and even-- especially black theologians will tell you that the Old Testament is replete with social justice and the prophets are social justice advocates.”
The prophets were not left-wing political activists and preaching at Martin Luther King’s church, does not make Warnock the heir to MLK’s legacy that all people who support civil rights must support. Nevertheless, Smikle hyped that, “in that tradition is Reverend Warnock, who is arguing in support of all Georgians and for Americans, you know, who are at every different sort of aspect of life whether you're rural, suburban, wealthy, or poor.”
As for Walker, he “is, sort of, embodying a different kind of faith, which is a big departure from George W. Bush's Evangelical Christians that, sort of, brought him into office. This is a very different community, a community that's willing to elect a celebrity who is less ideological and more of a vehicle for Republican ideology and that's what I think is really scary here.”
Not only is Warnock’s “social justice” version of Christianity better, the alternative is actually anti-Christian, “This is not about social justice. This isn't even about faith. This is about electing people on the right who are just going to do the bidding of the party, whatever that is. It's not even, it's not about Christianity at all. And I think that's the important lesson that-- whether I can talk about it or others can talk about it, it's an important point to note that this isn't about religion. This is about passing policy that is actually antithetical to the Christianity that Herschel Walker says he supports and embraces.”
There is nothing more antithetical to the idea that Wanock “is arguing in support of all Georgians” the idea that he uses his pastoral career to justify violence against the most vulnerable among us in the name of choice.
This segment was sponsored by Subaru.
Here is a transcript for the October 11 show:
MSNBC Chris Jansing Reports
10/11/2022
1:32 PM ET
CHRIS JANSING: It's so interesting, Basil, she makes a really good point, doesn’t she, about do any kind of controversies matter anymore. Do scandals matter? There's an interesting subtext, I think, to this race because the New York Times reported about a private event for Walker just after this whole controversy started and an Evangelical pastor made comparisons, apparently, to God's protection of King David in the Bible saying Walker would be protected in a similar way.
And the Times called the Georgia Senate race “an explicit matchup of two increasingly divergent versions of American Christianity.” Walker, conservative Christianity and right-wing politics, while Raph Warnock, who of course is a pastor, represents the Southern tradition of faith-based civil rights. I guess my question is in a race as tight as this one where every single vote matters, can faith be an important component to who wins or who loses?
BASIL SMIKLE: Well, faith is always an important component because as many theologians and even-- especially black theologians will tell you that the Old Testament is replete with social justice and the prophets are social justice advocates.
And in that tradition is Reverend Warnock, who is arguing in support of all Georgians and for Americans, you know, who are at every different sort of aspect of life whether you're rural, suburban, wealthy, or poor.
But Herschel Walker is, sort of, embodying a different kind of faith, which is a big departure from George W. Bush's Evangelical Christians that, sort of, brought him into office. This is a very different community, a community that's willing to elect a celebrity who is less ideological and more of a vehicle for Republican ideology and that's what I think is really scary here.
This is not about social justice. This isn't even about faith. This is about electing people on the right who are just going to do the bidding of the party, whatever that is. It's not even, it's not about Christianity at all. And I think that's the important lesson that-- whether I can talk about it or others can talk about it, it's an important point to note that this isn't about religion.
This is about passing policy that is actually antithetical to the Christianity that Herschel Walker says he supports and embraces.
